Youth and Students in Service

(Includes volunteering by young people - children, teens, and college age - plus service-learning and family volunteering)

Books on this topic

Navigate by sub-topic:

Volunteering by Children and Youth

Service-Learning (school-based)

Family Volunteering

Relevant Hot Topic Essays

Volunteering by Children and Youth

Articles and book excerpts:

The Adolescent as a Whole, from the book Kidding Around? Be Serious!
Board Service by Young People from Your Guide to Youth Board Involvement and the Law
Books on Altruism and Volunteerism for Youth
Citizenship from What Do You Stand For?
Get Off the Throne: How To Handle Power-Hungry Leaders, from The Student Leader
How to Create a Proclamation from Kid's Guide to Service Projects
How Young People Express Their Political Views by Michael Olander for the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE)
A Little Extra from The Leader's Guide to Stone Soup for the World
Making the Case for Youth Participation from Younger Voices, Stronger Choices
Points of Entry, from Recruiting College Students
Postering Secrets: How & Where to Hang Flyers On Your Campus, from The Student Leader
Preparing Your Organization, from the book Children as Volunteers
Schools, Universities and Volunteering by Terry Pickeral for USIA (1998)
Teens in Action from A Student's Guide to Volunteering
Volunteering, from KidsHealth
Volunteering Among Young People, 2003 study by the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE).
Volunteering with your High School Team by Will Simpson, a virtual volunteer from DoSomething.org
Youth Helping America Series - Building Active Citizens: The Role of Social Institutions in Teen Volunteering - results of the Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, Independent Sector, and the Corporation for National and Community Service in early 2005 (the first major national study of volunteering by American teenagers in more than a decade).

Free Electronic Books:

Can Do! Volunteering: A Guide to Including Young Disabled People as Volunteers

72-page guide from UK's leading services for people with disabilities, Leonard Chesire and Scope (2006). Can also download the guide in sections at http://www.can-do-volunteering.org.

College Students Helping America

Report from the Corporation for National and Community Service (2006), based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Family Volunteering: An Exploratory Study of the Impact on Families
The Center for Urban Policy and the Environment’s evaluation of the FAMILY MATTERS project of the Points of Light Foundation (2003).

Pathways to a New Future: Service as a Strategy for Vulnerable Youth, by Innovations in Civic Participation (2005, 40-page PDF).

Starting and Maintaining a Quality Internship Program, 4th ed. Compiled and Edited by Michael True of Messiah College and produced by the Technology Council of Central Pennsylvania. Practical and welcoming guide by a college internship director to help nonprofits and businesses establish effective internships for students. Nice checklists. (26-page PDF, 2004).

Websites with useful articles:

Alternative Spring Break

http://national.unitedway.org/asb/

United Way of America site about ways college students can help others during their school breaks, such as rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina.

Angel Soft "Angels in Action®" Program

http://www.angelsoft.com/angelsinaction/

Tools designed to encourage and facilitate community involvement by children ages 8 to 15.

Campus Compact: The New Student Politics: Wingspread Statement on Student Civic Engagement
http://www.compact.org/wingspread/

Insight into how students perceive the "civic" efforts on their campuses.

CIRCLE

http://www.civicyouth.org/research/areas/comm_partic.htm

Research and information on community participation by youth from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). Also see index of free "fact sheets" at http://www.civicyouth.org/?page_id=154

COOL Idealist Civic Engagement Curriculum

http://www.idealistoncampus.org/ioc/learn/curriculum/index.html

Over 50 training modules for students and community service directors on campuses, addressing civic engagement, including service, activism, advocacy, and political engagement.

Disney Adventures All-Stars

http://disney.go.com/allstars/

"Show Your Character" campaign to encourage kids to volunteer, with an annual award program but also lots of how-to ideas for both children/teens and adult "coaches." See the All-Star Coaches Guide at http://disney.go.com/allstars/for_parents/index.html.

do-it.org
http://www.do-it.org.uk/magazine/features
Articles and personal stories from volunteers in the UK about their volunteering experiences, with emphasis on young people.

18to35

http://www.18to35.org

National, non-partisan US organization dedicated to engaging young adults in public policymaking and moving their issues and concerns to the forefront of policy debates.

Family-to-Family

http://www.family-to-family.org/

A not-for-profit hunger relief program focusing on family service to others. See the newsletter section for examples of multi-generational efforts.

Innovation Center for Community and Youth Development

http://www.theinnovationcenter.org/r_research.asp

Various reports on youth development, civic engagement, and activism.

Out-of-School Time

http://www.nwrel.org/ecc/21century/index.html#pubs

Site focused on ways to make young people's out-of-school time relevant, safe and fun, including service opportunities.

Also see the online publications of the National Institute on Out-of-School Time at http://www.niost.org/

Raise Your Voice - Student Action for Change

http://www.actionforchange.org

Web site devoted to encouraging college students to engage in political activism and other civic involvement, with how-to guides.

Russell Commission

http://archive.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/russellcommission/

2004 UK government-sponsored consultation into youth action and engagement. Site offers survey tools and will report findings.

"Show Your Character"

http://www.doi.gov/tpia/kids/intro.htm

A how-to guide for young volunteers produced by the Walt Disney Company for Take Pride in America.

Starting A Youth Advisory Board
http://www.kauffman.org/pdf/YAB_white_paper_brochure.pdf
Report by the Kauffman Foundation (free PDF): "Like Now: Changing the Future Today with Youth Advisory Boards."

Taking It Global

http://www.takingitglobal.org/

International organization, "led by youth, empowered by technology." TIG brings together young people in more than 200 countries within international networks to collaborate on concrete projects addressing global problems and creating positive change.

What Young People Want from Volunteering

http://www.ivr.org.uk/youngresearch.htm

Summary of study by the Institute for Volunteering Research, UK.

Youth as E-Citizens Report

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/index.htm

Online "tour" identifies and analyzes almost 400 websites, created for and in some cases by young people, that engage youth in civic activities. Read the full 155-page report by American University's Center for Social Media (2004) about how an online youth civic culture, largely unnoticed by the general public, has taken root on the Internet and is fostering Generation Y's participation in U.S. politics and community affairs:

http://www.centerforsocialmedia.org/ecitizens/youthreport.pdf.

Youth Helping America Series
http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/role_impact/performance_research

.asp#YHA
In collaboration with the U.S. Census Bureau and Independent Sector, the Corporation for National and Community Service in early 2005 conducted the Youth Volunteering and Civic Engagement Survey, the first major national study of volunteering by teenagers in more than a decade. This site provides several free reports, including a 2007 update.

Youth in Philanthropy

http://fdncenter.org/focus/youth/kids_teens/

Youth-focused site from The Foundation Center, including information on famous and celebrity philanthropists.

YouthNet UK

http://www.youthnet.org.uk/

"Virtual charity" serving young people in the UK, including encouraging them to volunteer. As of 2006 have a Youthnet Blog which includes postings about volunteering.

Youth Noise

http://www.youthnoise.com/

Save the Children's site directed at teenagers to encourage community involvement and "how to be part of the solution."

Youth on Board

http://www.youthonboard.org/

Prepares youth to be leaders and decision makers in their communities and strengthens relationships between youth and adults. Particularly advocates involving young people on nonprofit boards of directors.

Youth Worker: The Contemporary Journal for Youth Ministry
http://www.youthspecialties.com/articles/

Articles for and by youth in faith-based settings, with emphasis on topics related to volunteering, organizational relationships, and leadership.

Service-Learning

Articles and book excerpts:

An Asset Builders Guide to Service-Learning from An Asset Builders Guide to Service-Learning

How to Make Service into Service Learning from the Journal of Volunteer Administration
Learning in Deed: The Power of Service-Learning for American Schools, a report from the National Commission on Service-Learning, produced by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, free, 60-page PDF.

Searching for the Perfect Advisor: How To Get What You Need from Your Advisor, from The Student Leader
Service Learning from Service Learning
Servi-Tourism, by Ann Hulbert for Slate
What is Reflection?, from Break Away Site Leader Survival Manual
Who Really Benefits from Service Learning? from Currents

Free electronic books:

Internship-in-a-Box, a detailed manual that tells organizations how to design an internship program. Provided by CareerPhilly, a Philadelphia-based program connecting students and employers: http://www.careerphilly.com/

Mentors Strengthen Student Community Service (PDF)
This monograph was published by SerVermont, a nonprofit corporation that encourages all students to do voluntary community service integrated with academic coursework.

Semester of Serivce Strategy Guide Youuth Serivce America, giving information on how to take a community service lesson plan or volunteer effort and create a semester-long service-learning curriculum. (2008, 32-page PDF)

Websites with useful articles:

The Big Dummy's Guide to Service-Learning

http://www.fiu.edu/~time4chg/Library/bigdummy.html

"27 Simple Answers to Good Questions on: Faculty, Programmatic, Student, Administrative, & Non-Profit Issues."

Campaign Against Servitude

http://www.aynrand.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6134

For another point of view about service-learning, check out this site of the Ayn Rand Institute.

Cesar E. Chavez Service-Learning Resource Guides

http://www.chavezfoundation.org/resource-service-tools.html

Set of step-by-step project manuals for service activities by students, K-12.

Learning In Deed
http://www.learningindeed.org/
Web site by the WK Kellogg Foundation with a wide range of information about and resources for service-learning.

Learning to Give Philanthropy Curriculum

http://www.learningtogive.org/lessons/index_page.asp

A site dedicated to teaching the importance of voluntary action for the common good in a democratic society. Offers free curriculum material for grades K to 12, with full course outlines, teachers guides, standards and benchmarks. Also see the materials in their "Resource Room" at http://www.learningtogive.org/materials/

National Youth Leadership Council

http://www.nylc.org/

Long-time advocate for service-learning, the NYLC site provides both basic and advanced information on what service-learning is and best practices for doing it right. See the 2004 "Growing to Greatness" evaluation studies.

SERVEnet

http://www.servenet.org

Web site of Youth Service America, provides continuously updated news about National Service and service-learning, several free e-newsletters, tip sheets for youth volunteers. See the "Project Plan It!" area of the site (http://www.YSA.org/PLANIT ) for online tools to plan a youth service project.

Service-Learning Diversity/Equity Project http://www.nylc.org/inaction_init.cfm?oid=3694

The National Youth Leadership Council's efforts at examining diversity in service-learning programs, with several excellent downloadable reports and articles.

Service Learning in the Northwest

http://www.nwrel.org/ruraled/learnserve/resrc.html

Several free guides on designing service-learning projects, their essentials elements, benchmarks, and sample programs.

Family Volunteering

Articles and Book Excerpts:

From Tragedy to Triumph: How can philanthropy and volunteering help my child cope with tragic world events? from Raising Charitable Children

Free Electronic Books:

Family Volunteering: A Discussion Paper, Volunteer Canada describes how and why families engage in service, examines strategies and barriers to implement family projects, and includes an extensive bibliography. Free, 22-page PDF.

Family Volunteering: An Exploratory Study of the Impact on Families by the Center for Urban Policy and the Environment. An preliminary study on the benefits of volunteering to the families who engage in it (2003, 32 page PDF).

Family Volunteering: The Final Report by Volunteer Canada. This study surveyed both volunteer managers and individual volunteers who engage in family volunteering and reports on the results. (44 page PDF).

Family Volunteering: The Ties That Bind. An introduction to preparing your agency for family volunteers, by Kristen Porritt for Canadian Heritage.

What a Difference a Family Makes: A Twist on Giving Back, the stories of 20 American families who volunteer together selected by Auntie Anne’s, Inc. (the pretzel company) to receive grants to support their efforts.

Websites with useful articles:

Family Matters

http://www.pointsoflight.org/networks/youthfamily/primers/

primer_main.cfm

Program of the Points of Light Foundation that encourages and supports family volunteering. Web site is a "Family Volunteer Primer" with a range of material on the how-to's of making family volunteering successful.

Family Volunteering Resources on Idealist.org

http://www.idealist.org/kt/familyvolunteer.html

This area of the idealist.org website includes information on the benefits of family volunteering and a list of articles on the topic. Contains information useful to families who want to volunteer and volunteer coordinators who work with family volunteers.

The Volunteer Family
http://www.thevolunteerfamily.org/Need/Default.aspx

This site includes ideas to help your organization become family-volunteer friendly, tips on supervising youth and family volunteers, information on legal issues and liability, and a place to post family volunteering opportunities.

Zoom into Action!

http://pbskids.org/zoom/action/

Site accompanying the PBS children's television series Zoom. Its "Action" section has many examples of volunteering by kids and families, plus how-to hints for adults and educators. Also provides a free guide to family volunteering to download at:

http://pbskids.org/zoom/grownups/action/pdfs/volunteer_guide.pdf